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Sun Xilao
General Character Appearance Description Sun is an average woman for the most part, with a slightly athletic build (both from traveling, and the exercise necessary to maintain vitor physically) set upon an average frame with somewhat wider hips. Her skin is not excessively pale, but is notably white. Her gilden hair is cut short, just covering the back of her neck, and tends to flare out a little in the lower sides and back. Freckles dot her cheekbones and the ridge of her nose. Clothing For clothing, she almost always wears the same gold-ish robe (the colour has faded slightly with age) that hangs from the shoulders to halfway down the shins and has a protective leather trim at the edges, but despite this, the area around the feet has become dirty and slightly frayed. The sleeves hang a little loose off the wrists. It is open at the front, and a large worn-red sash hangs from the front of her belt to just below the knees. Underneath is a simple pair of khaki trousers, dark leather travelling boots, and a white Asian-styled under-robe wrapped about her chest. Over it she typically has a very simple leather chestplate and a somewhat large travelling pack that holds her trinkets, books, and food. She is never seen without a blindfold on, preferring a dark red one to match her sash, but she often has to improvise when this one is lost. A spare is around her neck like a scarf. Personality Sun is, to put it simply, a jovial woman. Though she is admittedly a little simple-minded when it comes to matters other than mancy or stones, she makes an effort to be kind to anyone she meets (at least, until they exhibit the slightest rudeness that she manages to pick up on) and has often exhibited traits bordering that of motherliness. She has a tendency to refer to people as "dear" and chastise those she determines to be doing something wrong, or give some advice without really being asked for it. Has also been described as an oblivious nutcase, but there's nothing inherently wrong with just enjoying the day, really. Mancy and Abilities Sun is a terramancer with an unusual set of skills. Given her complete blindness in both eyes, Sun has adapted to use her terramancy to compensate. As terramancers have the ability to effectively "sense" the stones they intend to manipulate, she has adapted this power into a form of omni-directional sight, reading the changes in materials as people walk on them or as she touches them in order to get a reading of the immediate area and the shapes of large things. Coupled with her enhanced hearing, this makes it almost impossible to ambush her, were it not for the fact she still has some considerable disadvantages: * She cannot use this ability on small objects unless she is holding them, rendering them invisible to her. * She cannot read, especially since paper and ink are organic materials, not based on stones. * She cannot sense anything that is airborne unless it has some sort of stone-based material on or in it. Since she has been using this "sense" power almost constantly since her blinding, this has exercised and elevated her vitor stores to a considerable level, despite the fact she is otherwise not considered a powerful terramancer. The only actual terramancer spells she can perform with any prowess are generic construction, defensive or otherwise, the simple movement of stones telekinetically, and a few other utilities. Still, she's been recorded at least once to have crushed a monster between two large stones using these basic powers without hesitation. Spells Include but perhaps not limited to: Terramancy * Raise wall - raise a simple wall, varies in size. Can be used temporarily via soil, or for actual construction purposes via stone. * Raise spire - allows the user to jut a much smaller blunt spike from the ground, either to stand on or strike an enemy * Shape - shed material from the object of focus, going from the shape of a rough stone to something the user desires, like a carving. The finer the detail, the more vitor used. * Kinesis - maintained spell, uses constant vigor, dependent on object size. Move a rock freely about the air, as if you were holding it. * Entomb - open the earth, dropping a target into the ground and closing the hole above them. Easy to do with soil, but it also makes escape easier. Can be done with stone at a considerably higher cost of vitor. * Refine - shave and extract all stone from the surface and from within an ore, leaving a slightly foamy chunk of pure metal, which can be further forged without requiring a smelting process. Terramancers cannot manipulate refined metal. * Tidal Sands - sand, being a much looser material, can be manipulated by terramances in such a way that it almost appears as an ocean being used by a hydromancer. Practiced mancers can sink targets into the desert or give sand enough force to knock over structures of much more solid material. A specialty of Mazemovers. * "Gauntlet of Gaia" - a more advanced technique, combining several spells, the user draws several large stones from beneath and shapes them roughly into a large arm disconnected at the joints, tied to the user's own arm at a slight distance away. This construct can be used to both defend and attack with much greater forced than their own arm, but requires much vitor to create and a constant drain to hold onto. Chrysamancy More a subset of skills at the high end of terramancy, rather than a new school entirely. Deals with denser, more refined structures that would otherwise overwhelm or backfire and harm an adept terramancer. Though many of the spells are similar, they require greater vitor, accuracy, and being accustomed to the stronger sensory feedback from handling the finer structure. Sun has not learned any outright spells in this school, not being skilled enough, and still refining her vibration senses to handle it. The most she can do is make basic carvings out of raw or some polished gems. She sells them to afford new ones to practice on. Her larger than average vitor (because she is constantly maintaining her sense of vibration in stones, always exercising her abilities to some baseline) helps her in this department, but she must still be careful not to overwhelm herself. Biography Until Current RP Events In truth, Sun wasn't a particularly special case until she lost her sight. One unfortunate encounter with a pyromancer's experiment had scarred her eyes and rendered them entirely useless. Otherwise, an average young woman who had always been pleasant, enjoying the sunshine and playing with others, as well as studying the arts of the Mazemovers that protected the village she held dear, having been assigned to perhaps become one in the future. Her Vitae was undertaken much the same as any other Detarian who came of age, but something happened inside that changed her. The process, though complete and granting her powers, had been unique given her lack of some human senses, and left her a little different. Noted by close friends of hers is what at first seemed like a typical case of shock, it later grew and grew into a change in personality, as though she had regressed a few years. Villagers debate that she may have actually been driven mildly mad by the transition to and from the Void, others speculate it may simply be she's never had any eyes other than a child's. By the time they had decided to examine her again, however, she was already preparing to leave the village, and nobody could really figure out why. She's been travelling since then, with no real goal in mind other than to seek out gemstones. Every market, abandoned mine, or castle she comes across cannot escape her senses, and she will examine it from tip to root for any small crystals or semiprecious stones she can acquire. Nobody knows why she hunts them down or examines them so carefully for the highest quality. It's been years, and most have forgotten, but some still wonder exactly what happened to her on the day her Vitae was complete. The truth is, one of the many puzzles encountered during her trial involved a very special form of terramancy, practiceable only by those powerful in the craft; chrysamancy, the manipulation of crystal materials. Obviously, given the much finer, denser nature of pure crystal structures, this mancy is more demanding of one's vitor to move a smaller object of the same weight, and takes much greater accuracy in one's abilities. Sun has been practicing, and her larger than average vitor reserves allow her to accelerate her learning alongside the refining of her vibrational senses. Additions after beginning to RP In possession of one of few copies of Hiphix's Tales, granted by the Librarian. A unique book written by a blind telemancer with his mind, it appears blank until touched. It can only be truly deciphered by the mindful and blind. It contains advice and many insights into advancing senses other than sight. Using it, Sun has improved her terramancy senses to the point she can feel the slightest vibration within a hundred feet, tell where an arrow drops to the ground, and even feel rocks beyond walls made of other materials. This has also allowed her to feel the finest detail in a given stone or gem, which has furthered her practition of chrysamancy. Holds an unusual crystal ring from the bridge between realms, gift by the genie for aiding in his rescue from the clutches of the shadow creatures. When worn, it can be held up and it forms a crystal shield no bigger than the average round shield, and about 8 lbs. Since it lacks metal, it doesn't seem to disrupt mancy very much, making it a very useful defensive utility for mancers. Sun in particular has also been using it for her research into chrysamancy.